


Rewrite the Stars

by Neva_Borne



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Accidental Pregnancy, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Ba Sing Se, Book 2 au, Book 3 AU, Captured, Confession, Cute, Disguise, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Forbidden, Forbidden Love, Friends to Lovers, In Hiding, Mutual Pining, Reunion, Romance, Season 2 AU, Season 3 AU, Secrets, Tea Shop, Teen Pregnancy, The Invasion, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, Zutara, forbidden relationship, separated
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:53:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29014641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neva_Borne/pseuds/Neva_Borne
Summary: When Katara stays behind in Ba Sing Se to help plan the invasion, she ends up running into a familiar face in the Upper Ring of the city. But Zuko insists he's changed and that he's not trying to capture Aang anymore. And the crazy thing is, Katara believes him. With everyone else on their own adventures for the time being, Katara finds herself spending more and more time with the exiled Fire Nation prince. Days begin to include nights, and she wonders how in the world she is going to explain things when her friends return, but before she gets a chance, Ba Sing Se falls to Azula's hand, Zuko is captured, and Aang is nearly killed.Katara decides not to say anything until they can rescue Zuko, but a discovery made while hiding out in the Fire Nation might force her hand.--Canon divergent from the end of the episode "Lake Laogai" with an extended timeline.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 41
Kudos: 158





	1. A Cup of Tea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title inspired by the song Rewrite the Stars  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI-HOQ27QEM

The Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se was full of upscale shops and restaurants that Katara had taken to exploring while the others were all off on their adventures as a way to keep herself entertained and take a break from the responsibilities of planning an invasion. It had only been a few days since they had all split up, with Toph going to visit her mother, Aang to find the mysterious guru, and Sokka to meet up with her father’s fleet. 

She couldn’t pretend she didn’t want to be with her brother and father, but she knew how much it had meant for Sokka to reunite with him after being left behind so many years ago when Hakoda had left to fight in the war. And it was important that someone stay and help the Earth Kingdom plan the invasion of the Fire Nation. She’d see her father again someday. Someday soon. 

But she didn’t like spending time in the house that they had been given, not when she was alone with only Momo for company. She loved the lemur, of course, but he wasn’t the best conversationalist. And he couldn’t play Pai Sho worth a damn. So, she had taken to exploring in between her strategic meetings with the generals and King Kuei, and returned to the house only to sleep.

It was early afternoon when she strolled down an as-yet unexplored street in the Upper Ring. She’d spent the morning in a long, boring meeting discussing details of which unit to deploy where during the invasion - something Katara was unable to really help with - and she knew she had to be heading back fairly soon for yet another long, boring meeting discussing some other details that she was unable to contribute to, but she wasn’t ready to turn back quite yet.

Her eyes fell on a tea shop; the delicious aromas that wafted to her across the street made her mouth water. She glanced at the sky, guessing she had about an hour before her next meeting.

“What do you say, Momo?” Katara asked, turning her head to look at the lemur perched on her shoulders. “A cup of tea before we head back to the palace?”

The lemur chittered, and Katara took that as agreement. Without wasting any more time, she made her way up the steps to the main doors of the tea shop.

“Table for two, please.” She smiled at one of the young ladies who were stationed by the front door. 

The young woman bowed. “Right this way, miss,” she said, turning into the shop, her hands tucked into the long sleeves of her robes. 

“Thank you,” Katara said, as the woman stopped by a table tucked into the corner by a large window that provided so much natural light she was sure that the candles flickering on the table were wholly unnecessary. 

She sat down, facing away from the main entrance and towards the rest of the shop, and Momo jumped off her shoulders to sit on the table, swatting playfully at the candle flame. She smiled as she watched him play for a moment, then cast her gaze around the rest of the shop; she guessed it was pretty new, or if not, it was very well kept. The furniture was bright and polished, the windows sparkling clean. Live plants grew in baskets along the windows and vases of flowers decorated every table. 

It was fairly crowded, too. Most of the tables were filled - some with young couples, some with older ones, and even a few whole families spread across the larger tables closer to the back of the shop. The conversation buzzed; she caught a few individual words here and there, but nothing of interest.

Her eyes fell on a particular couple seated on the opposite side of the restaurant, their faces flushed pink - she guessed they were on a first date. The girl was giggling though, the boy grinning lopsidedly, and Katara couldn’t help but smile. With the world in such a mess beyond the walls of the city, it was nice to see people - especially kids her age - acting normal.

She wondered how her life might have turned out if she had been born here instead of in the South Pole. Would she be blissfully unaware of the war raging on outside the walls, content to waste time and energy on boys instead of training to prevent the end of the world?

It was because she was so focused on these thoughts that she didn’t see him approach.

“Welcome to the Jasmine Dragon, what can I-” The waiter looked up from his small pad of parchment and faltered, his eyes going wide.

Her attention snapped to him in an instant, the familiar raspy voice sending electric chills down her spine. She was half out of her seat, reaching for the waterskin at her pouch, a split second later.

“W-wait!” He spluttered, holding up his hands and taking a step back. “Please don’t make a scene. This shop is my uncle’s pride and joy.”

Katara blinked, her brows furrowing in confusion as well as anger as she stared at him. Everything about his posture, even the expression on his face, was screaming  _ innocent,  _ but she knew that to be false. 

Prince Zuko was anything but innocent.

“Why should I care?” She growled, keeping her voice low but not relaxing one bit. 

He looked almost hurt. “Because he isn’t like that. And this isn’t a trap.”

Despite herself, she almost believed him. Almost. “Why should I believe that?”

Slowly, his golden eyes watching her very carefully, he lowered his hands. She watched his movement, ready for the blasts of fire to come streaming out of his fists at any moment, but he just stood there.

“Well, if this was a trap, it’d be the Avatar sitting here, not you.”

She let out a bark of laughter. “That didn’t seem to bother you when you used a bunch of pirates to capture me and tie me to a tree so Aang would come rescue me.”

His cheek twitched and he glanced away for a moment, as though… embarrassed?

“Look…” He rubbed the back of his neck with the hand that held his ink pen. “I promise I’m not here to hurt you… Let me get you some tea and I can explain.” He sounded almost hopeful.

“Why should I?”

He sighed. “I know you have no reason to trust me, but I’ve changed. I swear.”

She looked at him - really looked at him - for the first time. He certainly  _ looked  _ different. Gone was the ridiculous ponytail and shaved head that she had associated with him for so long, replaced by a full head of hair, short and slightly spiky. He was no longer dressed in the Fire Nation armor, but in a brown, Earth Kingdom robe and a green apron on top. She realized that he’d looked similar when they’d last run into him, when his sister had been chasing them night and day. Except then he’d still been chasing them too.

But without the ponytail, the Fire Nation armor, the warship and crew, he was much less imposing. Add to that the fact that he was  _ serving tea, _ and she wasn’t quite sure what to think. He looked like the teenage boy he really was, his golden eyes just watching her, waiting for her reaction, one of them permanently squinted due to the scar stretching across his face.

“Please, Katara.”

She sat down, surprising even herself. She released a long-held breath, her hands shaking slightly in her lap. “Okay.”

He blinked. “Really?”

“Yes.” Her voice was tight, and she swallowed. Half of her was screaming at her to leave, to run away before Zuko could execute some elaborate plan he no doubt had cooked up in his brain, but the other half, the half that had seen that flicker of  _ something else  _ in his eyes, the part that told her that the old Zuko would never have been caught dead serving other people, the part that had offered to heal his uncle after Azula had shot him with fire during their last encounter, was telling her to stay and listen to what the fire prince had to say. 

Besides, Aang was safe, far away at the Eastern Air Temple with Guru Pathik. Even if this was a trap, Zuko would be out of luck. 

“Um… I uh…” Zuko stammered, staring at her like she was some sort of mythical creature and he couldn’t quite believe his eyes. “What sort of tea do you… um… want?”

She tilted her head slightly, still trying to figure out what was going on in his head. “What do you recommend?”

“Well, all of Uncle’s tea is good.” His voice was filled with something like pride. “His favorite is ginseng, but I think most people here order jasmine.”

“Ginseng sounds fine.” Katara exhaled. “And some water and a pastry for Momo.”

Zuko’s eyes flickered to the lemur, who had, shockingly, remained quiet during the whole encounter, large green eyes just watching the two of them. He nodded, then turned and made his way towards the back of the shop, disappearing from view.

Katara let out another shaky breath, hoping that she hadn’t just made a huge mistake in allowing her arch enemy to disappear from view. Her eyes fell on Momo and she reached out to stroke him. 

“What do you think, Momo?” She mused. “Am I being stupid right now?”

The lemur looked at her and let out a low “mrerh” and Katara sighed. She’d never been good at interpreting Momo’s noises, not like Aang. But he also hadn’t hissed or tried to attack Zuko, and he was usually a good judge of character.

In Zuko’s absence, thoughts whirred at a million miles an hour within Katara’s head. She kept trying to connect the dots between the angry prince on his warship and the boy who was serving tea to Earth Kingdom citizens - commoners and nobles alike, and it was making her brain hurt. She had so many questions, like why his hair was different, what had happened to his ship, why was he  _ here? _

Only a few minutes passed before Zuko reappeared, this time carrying a tray laden with a teapot, cups, and a plate piled high with pastries. Katara watched him curiously as he approached, trying her best to remain calm and collected as she took in the full effect of a Zuko who was no longer acting as a banished prince, but a true tea server. 

“Uncle says it’s on the house.” He exhaled, setting the tray down on the table.

Instantly, Momo snatched three pastries off the pile on the plate and chittered happily. Katara remained focused on Zuko, though, watching as he sat across from her at the table, as he lifted the teapot and poured two cups of tea and passed one to her.

She took it, feeling the warmth from the cup soak into her fingers as the steam wafted to her nose, bringing with it the slightly earthy smell of the ginseng. 

“So.” She began, taking a sip of the tea before setting the cup down on the table in front of her. “What are you doing here, Zuko?”

The boy across from her winced, glancing around as though worried someone might overhear them. “I go by Lee now,” he murmured.

“Okay then,  _ Lee.” _ Katara furrowed her brows. “What are you doing here?”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s a long story, but my uncle and I are here as refugees.”

She raised her eyebrows, her lips twitching up into a smile as she resisted the urge to laugh. “I’m sorry,  _ what?”  _

“I’m not… I’m not hunting the Avatar anymore.” His eyes searched hers, as though pleading for her to believe him. “I mean, I  _ was,  _ but then I found his bison under a lake, and I set him free and-”

“Wait-” Katara interrupted, sitting bolt upright in her chair as she stared at Zuko. “You did  _ what?”  _

He flushed. “I found the Avatar’s bison under a lake and I sort of… broke in and set him free.” He paused. “Well, I wasn’t going to set him free at first. I was going to use him to capture the Avatar, but then… I let him go instead.”

She just stared at him for a moment, the shock still reverberating through her body and constricting her lungs. 

Finally, she spoke again. “But… why?”

His gaze fell to his teacup, as if fascinated by the steam curling off the hot liquid. “I’m… not really sure.”

Katara frowned, the muscles in her arms tensing as she clutched the teacup in her hands so tightly she was surprised it didn’t shatter. “You’re not exactly selling yourself here, Zu- Lee.”

He groaned and ran his hair through his hair, causing the short style to look spiky and messy. 

“I know! Agni, I know. I’m not good at this!”

She almost felt bad for him, and she let out a slow exhale, leaning back in her chair as she regarded the distraught boy before her. “Fine, let’s table the whole ‘setting Appa free’ thing for now. How did you get into the city?”

He shrugged, not meeting her gaze. “I told you, we’re refugees. We came on the ferry.”

“But… why?” She frowned, lowering her voice so she could be sure none of the other customers would hear. “You’re the prince of the Fire Nation. If you weren’t here to look for Aang, why did you come here?”

A sadness came over him, something she hadn’t expected to see from the fire prince. 

“We had nowhere else to go.”

“Why not?” She pressed, determined to understand why their arch enemy was sitting in front of her, apparently having given up on his goal of capturing Aang.

His golden eyes rose up to meet hers for a moment before he looked away, looking angrier than he had since their conversation began. “My father doesn’t want me to come home.”

“So…” She hesitated. “All that stuff about regaining your honor…?”

“Was so I could return home.” He managed to get the words out through clenched teeth.

“Oh.” It was all she could think to say. 

He just shrugged again. “It doesn’t matter.”

She was opening her mouth to respond that it sounded like it  _ did  _ matter when Momo chittered loudly. She glanced at him, then out the window, and cursed under her breath.

“I have to go,” she muttered, standing up as Momo chittered again and leapt onto her shoulders. “Um… thanks for the tea.”

“Wait-” He stood as well, almost reaching out towards her before pulling back and just staring at her. 

She turned back towards him, searching his face. Immediately his cheeks turned red and he looked away, frowning.

“Um… goodbye, Katara.”

“Goodbye, Zuko.”

He winced. “Lee.”

“Right.” She frowned. Somehow the name Lee just didn’t seem to fit the boy in front of her; despite the change in attitude and appearance, he was still Zuko to her. “Bye, Lee.”

She left the shop, her heart racing and mind whirring with everything that had just happened as her feet carried her away, down the street and back towards the palace.

She didn’t see Zuko staring after her, watching until she disappeared from view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am super excited for this story! Updates may be slow (since I have 2 other fics I am working on and I'm in my last semester of university) but I will do my best.
> 
> I love hearing your thoughts on chapters so please don't be scared to keysmash or type out coherent thoughts or whatever you like to do! I appreciate everything! And I appreciate silent readers too! <3


	2. Tell Me More

The afternoon meeting dragged on as the generals discussed tactics and troop deployments, debated strategies and how they would get their troops from the Earth Kingdom to the various attack points on the Fire Nation capital. 

Katara heard none of it. She sat there, nodding whenever it seemed like she was being addressed, but paying no real attention to their words. Her mind was elsewhere, stuck on a boy with a familiar scar and a confusing tale.

At one point in the meeting, tea was brought out, and Katara spent the rest of the time just staring down into the steaming liquid, her mind playing and replaying her earlier encounter with Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation in her head.

Was it really possible that he and his uncle were here as refugees, fugitives from the Fire Nation? The Fire Lord had banished his son almost four years ago, but Katara had never given thought as to why. Now she wondered. Why had a thirteen-year-old boy been banished by his father? Had he really committed some unspeakable atrocity that warranted such a punishment?

His face appeared in her mind’s eye. The trademark scowl, the vivid scar across his face, the golden eyes that burned like the fire he bent. He was born and raised as Fire Nation royalty, destined to carry on the legacy of death and destruction that his great grandfather had started a century ago.

And yet…

“Master Katara?”

General How’s voice broke through her thoughts and she looked up, realizing suddenly that the other generals had all left the council room. And she was still just clutching her cup of now-cold tea.

“Oh,” she muttered, standing quickly. “Sorry, I… I was distracted.”

General How raised an eyebrow at her. “Clearly. Is there anything wrong?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m fine. Just tired.”

The general nodded in understanding. “War is exhausting. But we’ve made good progress, thanks to you and your friends.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he considered her. “Why don’t you take tomorrow off? I don’t believe we’ll need your input as much, and that way you can get some rest.”

“Oh, I’m fine, really.” Katara waved a hand, shaking her head as she adjusted her waterskins and began to walk towards the door.

“Really, Master Katara, take tomorrow off. If we need you, we’ll send for you.” 

Katara paused, then smiled at the man, a sense of relief washing over her. A day without endless boring war meetings? A day where she could explore the city, practice her bending, do whatever she wanted to do? It sounded amazing.

“Thanks, General How.”

“Have a good night, Katara.”

“You too,” she said, turning away and leaving the council chamber and the older man behind.

As she made her way down the corridors and out of the palace, the guards nodding to her as she passed, her mind was filled with thoughts of…  _ him.  _ Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t get him out of her head. He was there, like he had been while he had been chasing them, only this time, instead of the thought of him filling her with dread and anger, it filled her with confusion and curiosity. 

She wasn’t even aware of her feet carrying her down the street that led, not towards her house, but towards the tea shop she had found by accident earlier that day. It was late evening, the torches in the street lamps lighting the cobbled roads. The shops along the street were all closed, their doors locked, their windows dark. Almost everyone was home, eating or preparing dinner with their families. The few stragglers chatted in pairs as they strolled along the streets, completely at ease. It was the Upper Ring, after all. There was no danger lurking in dark alleys here like in the lower rings.

She caught sight of movement in the lit window above the tea shop and froze, instinctually pressing herself into the shadows against the wall of another shop, her hands poised to pull the water from her waterskins. Momo chittered as he crouched low on her shoulder, ears flattened.

The movement was just a silhouette, flickering slightly as the light behind him did, but she could tell it was him. The outline was, somehow, unmistakable, standing there in the window. Laughing? Surely that was just the flickering light making her see things.

She inhaled sharply, her heart racing in her chest. What was she doing here? She needed to go home. She should tell Sokka or Aang; they would know what to do. They could help her.

She ignored the stares that she got as she sprinted back along the streets, ducking around corners and never once slowing down until she reached her house and locked the door behind her.

\---

Crumpled papers surrounded her. All of them had words written on them, but none of them felt right. How exactly was she supposed to explain to her brother and Aang that their arch enemy had appeared in Ba Sing Se, not under some pretence and no longer searching for them, but as a refugee? And she knew that if either of them knew that Zuko was in the city where she was living, alone, potentially vulnerable, they would drop everything they were working on and return to help her. And what they were doing was important. 

Besides… Zuko wasn’t a threat. Not really. She’d fought him enough times to know she held the upper hand, and they were in a city full of guards who would gladly arrest known firebenders with little provocation. 

She pressed the palms of her hands into her eyes and groaned, slumping forward against the table. “What do I do, Momo?” 

The lemur mrewed and yawned, curling up on her most recent attempt at writing her brother and Aang. He regarded her sleepily out of luminous green eyes as she pulled her hands down from her face and folded her arms on the table in front of her.

“Right,” Katara muttered. “Maybe I should just… see what happens.”

She sighed as she stood and blew out the flame of the lantern she had been using to see by, then made her way over to the mattress on the floor that she had claimed as her own. 

She missed her friends, missed the comforting sounds of Toph’s and Sokka’s snores, the light breathing of a sleeping Aang. She wished she could’ve gone with Sokka to see their father, wondered how Toph was getting along with her mother - she was actually a bit surprised that the earthbender hadn’t returned yet - and how Aang was doing with the guru who had promised to help him unlock the Avatar State. 

And she wondered about Zuko and why she felt her heart race when she thought about their encounter, when she realized with a jolt that she was going to go back and talk to him again.

Sleep did not come easily that night.

\---

The sun had barely risen before Katara was awake and preparing herself for the day. The washroom was blissfully clean - the one perk of her living alone without two boys and Toph, who was arguably worse than Aang and Sokka combined - so she washed up quickly and pulled on a fresh tunic before braiding her hair back in her favorite style, her fingers moving expertly through her unruly curls. 

She was ready to go long before most of the shops would open for the day, so she spent an hour or so pacing inside the house, muttering to herself, talking to Momo, wondering if she was making a huge mistake putting herself in yet another situation where she would be talking with Zuko, one-on-one. 

Instinct, though, told her she wasn’t. He could’ve hurt her, could’ve captured her the day before. He hadn’t. He’d seemed nervous, almost, that she was there, worried that she might not believe his story. And what reason did he have to lie?

When the streets outside her house began to come to life, as people made their way along the cobbles on their way to work or shop or meet friends, she stepped out the door, blinking against the bright, spring sun. It was almost summer, but the cool breeze that brushed against her skin reminded her that it wasn’t quite yet. Still, it was pleasantly warm as she merged into the crowd and began the trek towards the Jasmine Dragon. Towards two firebenders. Towards her sworn enemies.

The shop was already fairly busy, though not as busy as the day before. Only one girl manned the entrance this time. Katara watched, pressed up against the same wall she had sheltered against the night before, as the girl bowed to customers and showed them inside the shop. The delicious aromas of baked pastries and cakes mingled with the scents of various teas - jasmine, ginseng, ginger, lemon - reached her nose, making her stomach growl in complaint. She’d been too nervous to eat breakfast.

She caught sight of him a few times, each time sending a shock of surprise through her, as though she still expected him to be wearing the Fire Nation armor and sending blasts of fire towards her. Instead, he was dressed the same as the day before, in a brown and green Earth Kingdom robe, carrying trays of tea and cakes to the patrons of the shop. 

It felt like hours that she stood there and watched the shop, but really it had been about twenty minutes before she felt her legs carrying her across the street, up the steps and onto the large front porch of the tea shop. The girl bowed to her, spoke a few words that Katara didn’t hear.

He’d noticed her, had frozen in the middle of the shop, his eyes wide as they locked onto hers. The tray that he held in his hands seemed to shake slightly; she could almost hear the gentle rattle of tea cups and plates from across the hubbub of the shop.

“Miss?” The girl asked, raising her eyebrow slightly at Katara. “Would you like a table?”

Katara blinked, looked away from Zuko -  _ Lee,  _ she reminded herself.  _ He goes by Lee now.  _ \- and towards the girl. “Um… yes, sorry. Well, actually, no. I’m… here to speak with Lee.”

The girl’s cheeks turned pink and she glanced between Katara and the shop. “He’s serving, at the moment, but-”

“It’s alright, Ming.”

Katara felt the breath catch in her chest at the familiar, raspy voice; she hadn’t noticed his approach, having devoted her attention to the girl, but now she was acutely aware of his presence. Raising her eyes to meet his again, she took the time to study his features, the way he carried himself. 

“But-”

“My uncle wants you to take over for a while.” Zuko continued. “It’s important.”

The girl, Ming, flushed a deeper red and huffed slightly before entering the shop and taking up the tray Zuko had left on an empty table.

Katara watched as Zuko watched the girl go, then slowly turn his head to look at her, his eyes glistening brightly in the sunlight, burning into her with a familiar intensity, the kind only a firebender could truly conjure.

“You came back.”

She nodded. 

“Why?”

At that, she broke her gaze away, her right hand reaching for her left arm in an instinctive defense. “I’m not really sure, honestly.”

She glanced at him, saw the furrowed brows, the downward curve of his lips. “Oh. I… should get back then.”

He turned to go, but she reached out, caught his arm. “Wait-” 

He flinched at her touch.

Immediately she let go, her eyes widening. “I’m… sorry, I just…”

“It’s fine.” He shrugged, avoiding her gaze and staring at the floor instead. 

“I wanted to talk. Maybe somewhere more private.” She explained, crossing her arms over her chest. “So I can understand, I guess.”

He raised his eyes to look at her again, almost… hopeful. “Really?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“We can go upstairs - or… go to a park, or something.”

“A park sounds good.” She smiled, her fingers nervous fiddling with the straps of her waterskins. She wanted to be somewhere public enough that, if she was wrong, if this was all some elaborate ruse, she could defend herself and call for help. 

But she couldn’t get the image of him flinching at her touch out of her head - the instinctive response he’d had to being touched, even by a non-threatening hand.

“Um… let’s go then, I guess.” He murmured, running a hand through his hair.

For the first time, she wondered how he’d gotten that scar on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another month, another chapter. Sorry it's been a while - this is at the bottom of my priority list (unfortunately, something has to be) even though I love this story and I'm really excited to write it. I promise I will continue to update it, it just won't be consistent for a while as I work on my other two fics.
> 
> But! Let me know what you think! I appreciate all feedback and I'm super excited for this story to really take shape.
> 
> Thank you as always for your support <3


	3. Reflections

She fell into step beside Zuko as they merged into the crowd, staying close enough that they wouldn’t get separated, but not  _ too  _ close. Not so close that he could grab her and prevent her from accessing her waterskins. 

But even though she was still taking precautions, his behavior wasn’t setting off any alarm bells in her head. Quite the opposite, in fact. He seemed so harmless, blending in with the crowd. No one even gave him a second glance.

“So… what do you want to know?” Zuko asked, glancing sidelong at her as they turned down a sidestreet close to the park. 

She blinked, glancing at him for a moment. If she was being honest, she didn’t really know. She wanted to know  _ everything  _ but where on earth was she supposed to start? Would Zuko even want to talk about the things she wanted to know?

“Um… I guess I still don’t understand why you and your uncle are here. I thought you were banished a long time ago?”

Something flashed across his face - anger, pain, she wasn’t sure which - and he frowned, his brows furrowing as he purposely avoided her gaze. “I was. Four years, two months, and thirteen days ago.”

She raised her eyebrow. “You keep track to the day?”

He turned his golden eyes on her, something flickering within them. “Wouldn’t you?”

Katara considered for a moment. She thought about being separated from Sokka, her father, Gran Gran. Everyone she loved and had grown up with, ordered to stay away from her home, never allowed to visit. And sent on a mission to capture someone who hadn’t been seen in a century, almost guaranteed to fail?

She’d left her home nearly a year ago, setting off on a journey with no clear end in sight, and leaving her entire world behind hadn’t been easy, despite it being her choice. It was something she had felt she had to do, but it had been her choice to make all the same. She missed the South Pole, she missed her tribe, and the more she thought about it, the more it hurt. And she had only recently been separated from Sokka, but her heart still hurt with the pain of missing him.

She missed everyone. Sokka. Gran Gran. Her father.  _ Her mother.  _

She hadn’t been home in eight months and twenty-three days, and suddenly it felt like a lifetime.

“Yeah. I guess I would.” She sighed.

She felt his eyes on her as they entered the park; it was really just a small grassy area with a fountain in the middle, but it was well-kept. Several children ran around between the trees, laughing as they chased each other. A few vendors had stalls set up along the outskirts, offering passersby trinkets or ice cream treats. 

It always astounded her how carefree the people of Ba Sing Se were, especially in the Upper Ring, but here especially it was obvious that the residents of the city either didn’t know or didn’t care about the war beyond their walls. 

She almost wished that she could have grown up here, free of war. Free of fear. Maybe her mother would still be alive. She wouldn’t have been born a waterbender, after all, so the Fire Nation would have no reason to attack her family. And her father wouldn’t have gone off to fight in the war, because the war didn’t exist here. She would have her family, together and whole again. Maybe she would have had another sibling. And she would never have found Aang in that iceberg. Perhaps he would still be frozen, trapped forever, or maybe someone else would’ve found him and set him free, and they would have been the one to go on the journey she was currently on. 

Maybe the fate of the world wouldn’t have been in her hands, almost as much as it was in Aang’s. 

She pushed those thoughts from her mind though. Despite the complications that came with traveling with Aang, being his teacher, his friend, she knew it was what she had been meant to do. She was the last Southern Waterbender, and she was destined to help the Avatar in his journey to defeat the Fire Nation and restore balance.

_ And here I am, having a casual conversation with the  _ Prince  _ of the Fire Nation,  _ she thought, a pang of guilt and uncertainty rising within her. Banished or not, Zuko had been their enemy for a long time - since before they were even aware of his existence - and it still felt weird that she was just… talking to him, like he was just another kid on the wrong side of destiny.

“I guess, I was just wondering why you’re only  _ now  _ refugees.” Katara elaborated finally, her feet carrying her automatically towards the fountain as though her element was calling to her. “If you were banished four years ago, how come you weren’t in hiding then?”

Zuko sighed, turning his head away. “It’s complicated. I… I told you I was hunting the Avatar to restore my honor.”

She nodded. 

“A few months ago that… changed.”

They sat at the edge of the fountain, cross legged so their clothes wouldn’t get wet, and Katara watched his reflection ripple slightly in the breeze. 

“What happened?” She murmured, turning her head to look at the side of his face closest to her.

“My sister showed up.”

“Azula.” Katara hissed, realizing that the girl with the blue fire and the wicked smirk had shown up right around the same time.

He nodded. “She told me…” he paused, his voice choked, and looked away again, as though ashamed. “She told me that my father wanted me back, even though I hadn’t captured the Avatar. I… I believed her. Or, I wanted to. So badly that I was blind to her tricks.” 

He clenched his fists in his lap, staring down at them with deeply furrowed brows. “I should have known better. Azula always lies.”

Sympathy wasn’t something she had ever expected to feel for the Prince of the Fire Nation, but the feeling that welled up inside her now was unmistakable. 

“Zuko-” She made to reach out to him, but he spoke before she could continue, her fingers lingering just above her knee as though still undecided whether or not to touch him.

“She attacked us. Her and her crew. We escaped, obviously, but that’s why we’re refugees. It’s why I had to cut my hair. It’s why we’re here in Ba Sing Se.”

“And it’s why you let Appa go.”

He nodded, still staring down at his hands, fists still tightly clenched. “I finally realized that I’m never going home.”

“I’m sorry, Zuko.”

He glanced up at that, his eyes flashing with surprise before clouding with anger, confusion, suspicion. 

“I don’t need your pity, Katara.”

She frowned. “I’m not offering pity. It’s just… for the longest time, whenever I would picture the enemy… it was your face. And I guess… that’s not really true anymore.”

“My face.” He muttered, raising his left hand to touch the scar on his cheek. “I see.”

Katara’s frown deepened and she turned so she was facing him, her body sideways to the fountain. “No, that’s not what I meant.”

“It’s okay,” he sighed. “I’m used to it.” He moved his hand back to his lap, his golden eyes dropping back down to their rippling reflections. “I used to think this scar marked me. The mark of the banished prince, cursed to chase the Avatar forever. But lately, I’ve realized I’m free to determine my own destiny, even if I’ll never be free of my mark.”

Once again, she wondered how he’d gotten that scar. The mark of the banished prince. And she wondered what it would be like if she were in his shoes, permanently scarred no matter what decisions she made, no matter what lengths she went to to redeem herself.

The vial that hung low on her chest beneath her tunic suddenly felt heavy and hot against her skin, and her heart skipped a beat as an idea struck her.

“Maybe you could be free of it.”

“What?” He turned towards her, his eyes wide and vulnerable, searching her face for signs of deception. 

“I have healing abilities.” She could feel her heart racing in her chest even as the words poured from her mouth.

His expression darkened slightly. “It’s a scar. It can’t be healed.”

She pulled out the vial, lifting the cord over her head and holding it out between them so that it caught the sunlight. “This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole.” She said, glancing up from the vial to meet his fiery gaze. “It has special properties so… I’ve been saving it for something important. I don’t know if it’d work, but…”

She raised her right hand, slowly, gently, and reached out for him, for the scar on his cheek. He didn’t pull away as her fingers brushed the rough skin; instead his eyes flickered closed, his chest rose and fell in a sharp breath, and Katara felt her heart skip a beat.

They sat there for what felt like an eternity, locked together with her fingers grazing his scar, his eyes closed, hers searching his face; he looked so peaceful without the familiar angry expression creasing his brows or slanting his mouth into a frown, more like the boy he truly was. 

Finally, she took a breath and moved her hand away from his scar to open the vial of spirit water, but a hand caught her wrist and she looked back up, instantly captured by the intensity of his golden eyes as he stared at her.

“Wait.” He said, his already raspy voice even hoarser than usual. 

“What’s wrong?”

“I…” He began, then paused, looking down for a moment at his hand, still clutching her wrist. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

His eyes flicked back up to hers as he slid his hand down so he was gently grasping her fingers, and she resisted the urge to shudder. “I just… I’ve been making a life for myself here. Or, trying to, at least. I think it’d be a little more than odd if I appeared suddenly without my scar. And I don’t...”

“Don’t what?” She whispered, her voice barely audible even to her own ears.

He looked away, down at his reflection in the fountain, and she wondered if he was imagining himself without his scar, what he would look like if he were no longer marked as the banished prince, as a refugee hiding from his own family, his own nation.

“I don’t want to look like him.”

For a moment, she furrowed her brows in confusion, trying to figure out who the  _ him  _ was, and then it hit her: his father. She had never seen anything except paintings of Ozai, but they must have been accurate, because now that she looked, she could see bits of him in the boy beside her, in the strong line of his jaw, the straight nose, the cheekbones that looked almost inherently regal. 

She swallowed and nodded, lowering her left hand with the vial so it no longer hung between them, a promise not fulfilled. 

“If you change your mind…” She murmured, letting the offer remain unspoken as she studied his face.

Once again, those bright golden eyes rose to meet hers, the ripples of the water below them reflected in them like the flickering of flames, and she was struck by how beautiful they were. She’d never seen it before, and she wondered if maybe it was because she hadn’t bothered to look or because he’d changed so significantly since she’d last interacted with him.

“Thanks, Katara.”

He smiled - a soft, barely-there smile that only just twitched at the corners of his mouth - and in that moment, his transformation in Katara’s mind was complete. She could no longer see the angry fire prince, determined to ruin the world’s only chance for peace by capturing Aang, but a boy scarred by the same war that she sought to end, betrayed by his family, cast aside as a refugee in a city full of people who would throw him in prison or execute him if they discovered his identity. 

Her right hand felt cold once she gently pulled it from Zuko’s grasp to replace the vial around her neck and tucked it back under her tunic and she wondered if the late spring morning had simply gotten warmer or if firebenders radiated heat.

“You’re welcome, Zuko.”

She noticed he didn’t try to correct her on his name this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know it's been a month since updating and I am very sorry! I feel really bad, but I didn't even update my main WIP until yesterday(?) and that takes priority over this one unfortunately BUT I am thrilled with the outcome of this chapter and I can't wait to continue developing ZK's relationship in the next several chapters.
> 
> I'm not sure yet, but the next chapter might be a Zuko POV - we'll have to see.
> 
> Thank you for your support and your patience and I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this update!!! <3


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